


Red

by pantalaimon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-13 22:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1242499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pantalaimon/pseuds/pantalaimon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sam and Dean stumble upon an unlikely hunter in an abandoned shack, Dean grumpily allows the stranger to hitch a ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red

The Impala skidded to a halt on the side of the road, showering the grass with water from a puddle. Sam stared incredulously at the EMF detector in his hand. The dial was close to the max, and the device whirred frantically.  
"What is it?" Dean asked, peering over his brother's shoulder.  
"I don't know, man, I didn't even have it on!" Sam replied as he opened the car door and stepped outside. Dean did the same, slamming the door behind him as he peered around. He could see nothing but trees, but the detector was still going crazy.  
Dean took a step back, and that's when he saw it. Through a gap in the woods he saw the corner of a small abandoned house, and a flickering light in a window.  
"Hey Sammy, I see it," he said, walking to the trunk to get his gun. Sam grabbed one too, a small handheld so he could keep the EMF detector.  
The grass whispered beneath their feet as the brothers closed in on the house. It was getting dark, and the abandoned shack looked ominous in the fading light. The windows still flickered, even though it looked as if the house had been without power for some time. A small crash emanated from within as Dean tried the locked door handle. Looking back at Sam, he nodded.  
"One, two, three." He kicked the door open and immediately held his gun up, Sam doing the same behind him, but there was nothing there. Aside from beat up furniture and dust, the room was empty.  
Another muffled noise came from beneath them, and Sam pushed open a door with steps leading down into the basement. The EMF detector went even crazier, and he nodded toward the steps.  
Dean slowly descended the creaking stairs, always careful to put his gun before him. It was even darker in the basement, but small shifting noises could be heard from the back room.  
As Sam stepped onto the floor, a gunshot came from the back room. Dean swung into action, running around the corner to confront whatever it was. To his surprise he saw a girl, maybe fifteen years old, pointing a gun at a shadow figure inching ever closer. She fired again, but the regular bullets went right through it, only making it angry.  
"Get down!" Dean shouted, aiming his gun, and the girl whipped around, her eyes wide. In that moment the demon lunged toward her, slashing at her face. She tumbled back, and Dean fired at the figure, catching what looked like its arm. It growled and vanished into thin air, filling the room with a freezing wind.  
Sam rushed towards the girl, aiming to help her up, but she scrambled to her feet and pointed her gun at them, her face bleeding from where the figure had clawed her. Her choppy black hair was escaping from her ponytail and her blue-gray eyes were cold as steel.  
“Who are you?” she asked, backing up against a wall and pointing her gun at each one of them in turn. Glancing at her gun, she added another question. “Why didn’t my bullets work? They’ve always worked.”  
Dean put his hands in the air. “Easy, we just saved your life. We’d appreciate it if you didn’t shoot us.”  
“We’re hunters.” Sam added, stepping closer. “The same as you seem to be.”  
The girl seemed to think for a moment, and then finally lowered her gun and sat on the edge of a rickety old table. She seemed exhausted, and she rubbed her forehead, smearing blood across her face. “Thanks, I guess. I was doing fine on my own, you know.”  
Dean snorted. “Sure you were. Any particular reason you’re out here in the middle of nowhere, shooting shadows without parental guidance?”  
The girl glared at him. “I don’t have parents. Not any more.” She looked down at her gun, and Sam felt immediately bad for her. Dean, however, was a different story.  
“So instead of being at an orphanage or with a relative, you’re hunting demons? What kind of parents did you have?” Sam put his hand on his brother’s shoulder, seeing that the girl was getting angry.  
“I had perfectly normal parents, until they were killed by whatever that thing was! I tracked it for months until I found it, and then you two show up, and it disappears!”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. It was about to kill you. And I shot it. So you’re welcome.” Dean angrily turned to leave. Sam stopped him as he was about to stalk back up the stairs, and pulled him out of the girl’s earshot.  
“We can’t just leave her here! She’ll get attacked again, and most likely killed.” Dean stared at him incredulously.  
“What are you saying, we adopt her or something?”  
“Let’s at least take her to the bus station, and get her to a relative.” Dean rolled his eyes, but turned back into the room.  
“What’s your name, kid?” The girl was now leaning back, twirling her gun without a care in the world.  
“Red.” She hopped down from the table and thrust the gun into the back of her jeans.  
“Why Red?” Sam asked.  
Red looked at him like he was stupid. “Because of my hair, duh.” The brothers looked at her black hair, cut unevenly and wisping around her face.  
After a second, she glanced up and frowned. “Well, it used to be red. I keep forgetting I dyed it.” She walked past them and up the stairs. “To the bus station!”

“Is this your car?” Red looked at the Impala. It was dusty and dirty from miles and miles of hunting, and it could’ve used a new tire or two.  
“Yeah,” Dean said, getting defensive. Anything against his car was a personal insult.  
Red peered through the window. “I like it. My dad used to have one, just like it. I suppose it’s mine now, if I could drive.” She shrugged and hopped in the backseat.  
Sighing, Dean got in, Sam following suit. As he started the car, Red piped up with another question.  
“So are you two brothers?”  
Dean threw up his hands. “Finally. Someone doesn't assume we’re gay!”  
Red grinned at him in the rear-view mirror. “That was my second guess.”

After a half an hour of awkward driving silence, Dean slammed the car door shut and looked up at the dingy old bus stop with disgust. “That looks homely,” he remarked to himself as he walked up to the door. A bell dinged as he stepped in, but no one seemed to be around. He was peering behind the front desk when Sam walked in, holding the door for Red, who seemed bored.  
Sam walked over to a map hanging on a wall. “So, where are you going?”  
He turned around to see that Red had hopped up on the counter and was unwrapping a piece of gum. “Nowhere. I don’t have any relatives, at least none that I’ve ever met. My parents were-” She thought for a second. “Private people.”  
Dean turned from the tack-board he was examining. “Then what are we doing here?”  
Red shrugged. “I’m not leaving until I've killed this demon. Then I don’t know. I had a friend back in my hometown, maybe I could stay with him for a while.”  
Dean raised his eyebrows at Sam, who gestured helplessly. “Right.” He looked back at Red. “We’ll kill this demon, and then take you to your friend’s house, okay?”  
Red smiled. “Cool. But one thing about the completely silent driving.”  
Dean just looked at her.  
“Do you have Metallica?”


End file.
